WAAF (AM)
| Simulcast of WILK-FM, Avoca | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Broadcast area | Scranton/Wilkes-Barre |
| Frequency | 910 kHz |
| Branding | WILK Newsradio |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Format | News/talk |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
First air date | 1925 |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | "parked" call sign; see WKVB |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 36200 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 900 watts day 440 watts night |
Transmitter coordinates | 41°24′34″N 75°40′01″W / 41.409514°N 75.666854°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (via Audacy) |
| Website | www |
WAAF (910
WAAF is one of three
"WILK Newsradio" has a weekday schedule with mostly local hosts. At night, the stations air
The stations also carries play-by-play sports including
History
The station signed on the frequency of 1250
The Megargee family's company, Scranton Broadcasters, put an FM station on the air (now WGGY) and Northeastern Pennsylvania's second television station (now WYOU). The Megargees held on to the radio stations well into the 1990s. By the turn of the century, WGBI had been sold to Entercom (now Audacy) and become a repeater of WILK, existing mainly to improve its signal in Scranton. While WILK's daytime signal easily covers most of Scranton, the northern portion of the city only gets a grade B signal. At night, WILK must power down to 1,000 watts, leaving most of Scranton with only a grade B signal.
In 2005, Entercom flipped a station in the Madison, Wisconsin, area to adult hits; the WBZU call letters were parked in Scranton, ending 80 years as WGBI.[7]
In 2007, the station moved its transmitter to the tower location atop the Times Building at 149 Penn Avenue in downtown Scranton[8] also being used by WEJL's transmitter. The full-time switch over to the new transmitter facility and tower location happened on August 2, 2007.[8] This tower sharing arrangement repeats an arrangement the stations shared over 60 years ago in their early history. The efficiency of the new transmitter tower location also caused WBZU to slightly reduce its power to keep within Federal Communications Commission rules on signal strength and coverage.
On February 26, 2020, the WAAF call letters were transferred to WBZU from 107.3 FM in Boston, which had held the call sign since 1968. When Entercom announced they would sell WAAF to the Educational Media Foundation, the call letters were "parked" in Scranton, preventing a rival Boston station from using the call sign and trading on its 52-year legacy in Boston (including 50 years as a rock station).
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WAAF". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ Radio-Locator.com/WAAF
- ^ U. S. Radio Stations as of June 30, 1927
- ^ U. S. Radio Stations as of June 30, 1930
- ^ U. S. AM Stations as of 1942
- ^ U. S. Network-Affiliated AM Radio Stations, 1949
- ^ Ondrako, Mary (June 4, 2005). "Jack airs his eclectic tastes on growing range of stations". Times-Tribune. p. B3. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
- ^ a b Wow...910am
External links
- Official website
- WAAF in the FCC AM station database
- WAAF in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- FCC History Cards for WAAF